Noma Dumezweni joins The Little Mermaid cast

Noma Dumezweni has joined the cast of 'The Little Mermaid'.

The 51-year-old actress will feature in an as-yet unknown role in the live-action remake of the classic 1989 animated Disney movie.

Noma – who was recently seen in the hit TV drama 'The Undoing' - joins a cast that includes Halle Bailey as Ariel, the mermaid princess who dreams of becoming a human. Melissa McCarthy is portraying her evil aunt Ursula with Javier Bardem also starring as King Triton.

Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina are all lending their voices to the flick as Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle respectively.

Nora's role in the movie is yet to be revealed but it will be a brand new character that wasn't in the original movie.

'The Little Mermaid' is being directed by Rob Marshall from a script written by David Magee. The new film will feature songs from the original as well as new music from original composer Alan Menken with lyrics provided by 'Hamilton' creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Melissa recently said that she finds Ursula "delicious to play" and that she has a real "affection" for the villain.

The 50-year-old actress said: "I have such an affection for Ursula. I know she’s the villain, but I’ve just always kind of been like, ‘Oh my god.’ I mean, she’s kind of delicious to play.

"I’m just kind of doing it as if I could be like the vaudevillian night club act that lives in my heart. It’s just so fun, you can’t go too far with her and I’m excited to see it."

It had been hoped that production on the movie would continue in London this month, although the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has made plans uncertain.